Moving cross country, help!

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Nelly

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 28, 2021
Messages
1
Hello all! I am new to this forum and looking for advice on moving with all of my fish. It is a 17 hour drive and we are planning to stop for the night on the way. We have
12 corydoras
7 female bettas
2 male bettas
1 pea puffer
1 large Oscar
1 10” black ghost knife
2 Axolotyl, one full grown one juvenile.

We are planning on transporting them in 5 gallon buckets with air bubblers. I was wondering if you guys have any advice or if I should transport them differently. My main question is if I will need to split up the corys 6 & 6 because of how much room they will have on the bottom. Will my male bettas be ok in a betta cup you get at petsmart for the duration of the trip?

Any comments welcome,

Nelly
 
I would suggest using something like a Coleman cooler. You can get a couple of styrofoam ones cheap. More surface area than buckets and they are insulated. I'm not sure bubblers are necessary if there is an opening in the top as the water sloshing around will provide oxygenation.
 
Since they need to last the night I would use the bubblers, at least at night when the water is still. I think the cories would probably be more comfortable all together since they’re schooling fish. When I moved mine I only separated for safety. Don’t want anything traveling with a roommate who might think it was yummy! So the rummies got their own bucket while the tiger barbs and white skirts all moved together. The whisker shrimp got their own bucket since I didn’t want them to go after the amanos in a tight space. Etc.

I would also highly recommend a black storage tote over buckets. Gives them more horizontal space and has a top to avoid too much splashing or anything falling in. Black (or anything opaque) to lower stress levels. I drilled a small hole, a little bigger than an airline tube in the top and then taped the bubbler to the top and ran the airline down into the water.

I didn’t heat the water during transit. Figured the risk of temp fluctuation back and forth was more likely to damage them then a day or two at room temperature. I slowly lowered the heater temp in the couple days prior to moving so they acclimated to room temp before the trip. At the new house, likewise, I increased the temp over a couple days to ease the transition back to their normal temp.

If you have long enough before the move I would get a few small sponge filters that you can start getting seeded, that way you can hook up a little sponge filter overnight in the tubs with the highest bioload (the larger fish). I also tossed the live filter media (rinsed well in aquarium water, so there’s not waste being added too)) into the tote with them along with a bit of purigen and one of those aqueon “pure” balls that’s supposed to help absorb/neutralize ammonia. I also put in a few drops of prime for that purpose.
 
I would also prepare just a little extra water just in case. A small water change about midway will keep stress levels at a minimum. Not required but a little something extra to increase success chances. Otherwise the previous comments were well written and I would follow those fairly close. Good luck my friend!
 
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